Amendments to Pleadings

In the subject of Civil Procedure, we can't get around the fine details. And there are many that you'll need to know when answering questions about amending a pleading. Such questions are implicated when, for example, a complaint is served and then the party that filed the complaint decides an amendment is needed.

The rule here is that a pleading may be amended once within 21 days of its service.  If the pleading is one to which a responsive pleading (for example an answer to a complaint) is required, then the original pleading may be amended within 21 days after service of the responsive pleading or pre-answer motion.  After this one amendment, however, leave to amend is by consent or by leave of court which must be freely given.

And then assume a pleading is amended. The next question is whether the amended pleading will relate back to the time period of the original pleading. For purposes of statutes of limitation, an amendment to a pleading that arises from the same conduct, transaction, or occurrence that was set forth in the original pleading generally is deemed filed on the date that the original pleading was filed.  This is important since it's possible that the date of the amended pleading might occur after the expiration of the statute of limitations on the claim that is the subject of the complaint. But by relating back to a time period prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, that is no longer an issue.

Note also that an amendment naming a new adverse party will relate back if, within the time for service of process, the new party had sufficient notice of the action to avoid prejudice and knew or should have known that but for a mistake concerning the new party's identity, the new party would have been named in the original pleading.